Dave Harrity

Dave Harrity is a Kentucky poet, and an Assistant Professor of English at Campbellsville University. He is the founder of Antler — a community-building and spiritual-formation organization designed to encourage the integration of creativity in devotional practice. Visit Antler here. The heart of Antler can be seen in Harrity's book, Making Manifest: On Faith, Creativity, and the Kingdom at Hand, which consists of meditations and writing exercises.

My friendship with Dave Harrity began many years ago at the Festival of Faith & Writing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's been good to witness his development as a writer and speaker. His poetry chapbook, Morning & What Has Come Since, was released by Finishing Line Press in 2007, and was nominated for several awards. At that time Nicholas Samaras declared, "...we welcome the arrival of David Harrity whose observations are acute, [and] whose turns of phrase are artful, arresting and original..."

I am so pleased to have been able to assist him as editor for his first full-length poetry collection, These Intricacies, which has just appeared as part of the Poiema Poetry Series from Cascade Books. The following is from These Intricacies.

from Novena (6)

Let me know the distance
from your ghost to my bones.

Let these knees singe the ground
under coal-brushed clouds.

Let my voice grow into prayer
with my face against the soil.

Let the seed begin the tree,
the taproot kiss through stone.

Let hands grow to branches,
divide and rise to green.

Let fingers flower into leaves
and wander to the sky.

Let churning be an icon,
the beginning to your reach.

Let rain create the heat,
and batter every leaf.

Let lines of lightning chalk the sky,
fierce flare to flash and rush.

Let my pieces smolder
in the absence of your touch.

Posted with permission of the poet.

Entry written by D.S. Martin. His latest poetry collection, Conspiracy of Light: Poems Inspired by the Legacy of C.S. Lewis, is available from Wipf & Stock as is his earlier award-winning collection, Poiema.

Paul Quenon

Paul Quenon is a Trappist monk who has primarily lived at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky since 1958. At age 17 he was drawn to investigate Gethsemani, having read Thomas Merton's autobiography, and then as a novice, he served under the direction of Merton. Quenon is a photographer and a poet. Several of his earlier books, such as Terrors of Paradise, were published by Black Moss Press (Windsor, Ontario). His new collection, Unquiet Vigil: New and Selected Poems appeared from Paraclete Press in 2014.

As my friend, Kentucky poet, David Harrity (who has visited Brother Paul at Gethsemani) has said: "Paul recites and sings poetry seven times a day by profession—namely the ancient psalms of the Bible, in choir with several dozen other monks. This sets the bar pretty high for a boy from West Virginia who came to pray and work and read all about God in a monastery, which makes a natural breeding ground for poets."

The Cowl

—solemn as chant,
one sweep of fabric
from head to foot.
Cowls hanging
on a row of pegs—
tall disembodied spirits
holding shadows
deep in the folds
waiting for light,
for light to shift
waiting for a bell
for the reach of my hand
to spread out the slow
wings, release the
shadows and envelope my
prayer-hungry body
with light.

Entry written by D.S. Martin. His latest poetry collection, Conspiracy of Light: Poems Inspired by the Legacy of C.S. Lewis, is available from Wipf & Stock as is his earlier award-winning collection, Poiema.

Tania Runyan*

Tania Runyan is the poetry editor for the literary journal, Relief. She has just had her third full-length collection, Second Sky, appear as part of the Poiema Poetry Series from Cascade Books. She has had poems appear in such fine journals as Poetry, The Christian Century, Image, and Southern Poetry Review. Like her previous collections, Second Sky interacts closely with scripture. In this case the poems connect with incidents in the life of Paul the Apostle, or with things he wrote in his letters.

In talking about how the poems in Second Sky gloss scripture, Jeanne Murray Walker wrote, "There are layers and layers here to uncover. I will discover them slowly, but meanwhile, I love the fierce brio of these poems. I love their intelligence and urgency."

In an interview with David Harrity of Antler, Tania explained how her interactions with scripture can turn into poetry. "[W]hen I come across a passage, even a word or phrase that moves me, I allow it to shine on a few different areas in my life, like memories, struggles, and meaningful images, and I journal about those. Soon a poem starts to take shape—and the scripture becomes more solidified in my mind as a result of those personal associations."

The following poem is from Second Sky. I am pleased to have been able to assist Tania Runyan as the editor for this fine collection.

The Greatest of These
—1 Corinthians 13

Embraces the woman whose child screams
on the floor of the cereal aisle.
Enters the friend's new mansion,
lifts eyes to the skylights, gives thanks.
Yields the last word on the Facebook fight.
Looks the frowning barista in the eye.
Takes a breath and thanks God
there is even a zipper to get stuck.
Sends a gift to the wall-punching uncle.
Glances away from the handcuffed boys
on the side of the road and prays.
Smiles and listens to the grandmother complain
about her knees, rubs the knees,
ladles another bowl of soup.
Believes there is a reason that slumped man
in the alley was born. Trusts he'll believe it.
Endures the quiet, thankless song of work.
Echoes long after the cymbals have died.

*This is the second Kingdom Poets post about Tania Runyan: first post, third post.

Posted with permission of the poet.

Entry written by D.S. Martin. His new poetry collection, Conspiracy of Light: Poems Inspired by the Legacy of C.S. Lewis, is available from Wipf & Stock as is his earlier award-winning collection, Poiema.